Arlan Hamilton has some rather striking accomplishments. She doggedly pursued her dream of starting a venture capital fund focused on female, minority and LGBT entrepreneurs, spending everything she had and ending up homeless and living on the streets. However, after receiving the initial investment in her fund, Hamilton, a Silicon Valley outsider with no experience as a venture capitalist, has secured funding from many well-known Silicon Valley investors. A year later, she is leading a $5 million venture fund, having already invested in nine start-up companies.

Key Takeaways:

• Arlan Hamilton had to risk everything to acheive her goal
• Sillicon Valley is focued on creating a more diverse atmosphere by investing in projects created by women, minorities and LGBT members
• Diversity among venture capitalists is currently scarse.

“Like many of her tech idols, Hamilton wears the same uniform every day: a black shirt or black hoodie that proudly sports the name “Backstage Capital” in bold purple letters.”

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Apple’s App Store has seen a lot of growth due to, mostly, gaming apps that are stealing the show on the app store. The number of apps on the app store is targeted to increase to over 5M different apps at the year 2020. The number of small apps that are made, due to people’s demand of games, has bolstered that number up.

Key Takeaways:

• Since its creation in 2008, the Apple App Store has grown exponentially, from 5,000 apps to over 2,000,000 today, and that number is projected to reach 5,000,000 by the year 2020.
• “There’s something for everyone: dating…, weather…, and even an app to help prevent shark attacks” but with all these apps, users sometimes have difficulty finding the right one for their needs.
• Even though there are millions of apps available, on average people download just 1.5 apps per month and really only use the same few apps each day.

“Despite the addition of all these new apps, users still only use a few applications regularly. Based on Sensor Tower’s analysis, users download 1.5 applications on average per month.”

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The crazy success of the mobile game, Pokemon Go, has people questioning if it needs a code of ethics written because of how popular it is. The nature of the game has made it possible for all sorts of issues to arise, such as pokestalking, which this author comments on. The author, however, says the physical nature of the game actually does curb some of the potential hazards.

Key Takeaways:

• The success of this mobile game, with its echoes of Beatlemania, seems to have caught everyone off guard—not least the company that produced the game.
• So far, it seems like the physical nature of Pokémon Go helps tamp down the harassment that might otherwise occur if the game took place in a purely online space
• Society has a chance to set new precedents and commit to industry-wide ethical standards now, when the biggest manifestation of AR is still a relatively inconsequential videogame.

“The suddenness of Pokémon Go’s mass popularity signals that a technological revolution is upon us, and it is past time for an industry-wide set of ethical standards for augmented reality.”

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Consumers today expect more than ever from their content. Even previously revolutionary forms of content presentation like infographics and PDFs are falling out of favor because of their static nature. Instead, interactive presentations in which users can create their own experience and choose how they move through the content are the next big step in content delivery. Dynamic and more open-ended visual presentations simulate the kinds of conversations created by social media that users have come to desire.

Key Takeaways:

• Everyone loves a good infographic. They’re (ideally) easy to digest, fun to look at, and often shareable.
• PDFs are the most direct descendant of print media in the digital space, and it’s no surprise that they’re so popular in content marketing.
• The added and crucial benefit in creating interactive content is the gateway it opens to a rich source of customer data that can feed marketing automation and campaigns.

“We stand now upon the precipice of a paradigm shift: Content marketing, an answer itself to the shifting demands of consumer culture, must evolve.”

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Google Fiber has been creating ultra fast internet to homes and businesses for years. Now a physical connection, Google Fiber is looking to make its infrastructure completely wireless in the near future. A recent filing with the FCC shows that Google is looking to test out new ways to bring this ultra fast internet to people everywhere, wirelessly.

Key Takeaways:

• A new FCC filing by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, laid out the Cupertino, California-based company’s plan to begin testing internet-disseminating radios in regions around the country.
• Google’s been testing wireless technology in Kansas City, the first city to receive Fiber service, for the past several weeks, the documents revealed.
• At Alphabet’s quarterly shareholder meeting in June, Chairman Eric Schmidt spoke about the company’s exploratory steps toward fiber-optic alternatives.

“But Google faces an uphill technological climb. Its wireless choice of medium in question, millimeter wave technology, is limited in range and affected by both inclement weather and physical obstacles.”

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You’ve just finished up an important email and then get stuck on the most important part – a catchy subject line that will get it read. Not hard to imagine, right? We’ve all been there. This article gives great examples of headlines that will get the job done right. It can be tricky, but with these tips, such as why they should open the email, answers to questions they have, and the personal connection the person may have with you, your next email will fly into the inbox with a neon sign that says “open me”.

Key Takeaways:

• The focus of the subject line is too broad and focuses on the wrong goal. Your goal should simply be about getting a response, not to close a deal.
• You’re sending your emails at the wrong time. Recent data revealed that the worst days for open rates are Monday and Tuesday, and the best email send days are Saturday and Sunday.
• Sending your emails with a generic address. To boost open rate, send your emails as a real person, not a business account or company name.

“You’re sending your emails at the wrong time. Recent data revealed that the worst days for open rates are Monday and Tuesday, and the best email send days are Saturday and Sunday.”

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